A medical emergency is difficult enough when it happens close to home. When it happens hundreds of kilometres from a specialist medical facility, the situation can become considerably more complex.
For people working or travelling internationally, particularly in remote areas, the nearest hospital is not necessarily the hospital that can provide the treatment required.
A regional hospital may be able to stabilise a patient but may not have access to specialist cardiac, neurological, neonatal, oncology or trauma services.
This is where the geographical element of healthcare risk becomes important.
In an emergency, the question may not simply be:
“Where is the nearest hospital?”
It may be:
“Where is the nearest appropriate centre of medical excellence?”
Medical evacuation is designed to address situations where appropriate treatment is not available locally and the patient’s condition requires transfer. It is a clinically led process, rather than simply a transport service.
International Health and Speciality Risks experience includes coordinating medical transfers across Southern Africa, including Zimbabwe to South Africa, Zambia to Johannesburg, Malawi to South Africa and transfers from remote areas to tertiary centres.
For businesses with employees working in remote locations, this is an important consideration when assessing international healthcare risk.
Healthcare access is not only about having a hospital nearby. It is about having access to the right level of care when it matters.
